Collection: Lampshades

Cotterell & co was born out of lamps and lampshades. We started out in 1952 as a lampshade maker for table and floor lamps. Whilst we handmake all shapes and sizes of lampshades in-house, we specialise in lamp shades for the ceiling and especially in large ceiling lamp shades.

We have developed techniques to enable us to use all sorts of amazing designer wallcovering as lining materials.



We Have Been Making And Selling Lampshades Since 1952

click to read more...


Wonderful hand-made and “off the peg” shades can bring your room together perfectly. So many shapes: Drums, Ovals, Tapered, Rounded Cubes and Rounded Rectangles, and Cylinders. There’s a perfect shade shape for every base. Not sure? Send us a picture or call into one of the shops for a chat and we’ll guide you. Check out the various shapes we’ve used in our pages below as inspiration.


Insider Tip! Use a white lining inside your shade if you want the light to glow through; use any of our other linings to ‘stop’ the glow and allow the shade to retain its true colour and pattern and have a decorative effect too.


How To Choose The Perfect Lamp Shade

How to choose a lampshade fabric, colour or neutral, plain or pattern? There are so many beautiful fabrics to select from and on our website you will find many examples of stunning patterned lampshades, textured neutral lamp shades, silk lampshades, velvet lampshades in a variety of rich and neutral colours.

If choosing a colourful patterned lampshade make sure that the main colourway is echoed somewhere else in the room in rugs, curtains or cushions as this will anchor the décor. Remember pattern isn’t only about colour, a beautifully textured fabric can make a strong design statement too.

Shape is also an important consideration. If looking for lamp shades to use as mantlepiece table lamps opt for oval lamp shades as they will sit snugly on a narrow surface. An oval lampshade is also a good choice for table lamps with a rectangular base. A pleated empire shade suits a stem table lamp and a drum shade looks great on a floor lamp.

There are some rules to follow when looking to shade a lamp base and if you follow these you’re your lamp shade will be in proportion to the base. Firstly, ensure the width of the lampshade is approximate to the height of the lamp base. The height of the lamp shade should be around two thirds the height of the lamp base.

Lastly, the lamp shade should be wider than the widest part of the lamp base. However as with all rules these were meant to be broken and beauty as always is in the eye of the beholder.

If for example you are searching for a lovely grey lampshade for a floor lamp, contact us and we can recommend some fabrics for lamps hades to suit. We can send you out swatches. And for ceilings grey certainly isn’t boring especially when paired with an Arte wallpaper lining material as in our textured grey shade with timber wallpaper lining.

A bright light shade can really cheer up your décor and hence your mood and you don’t get much brighter or cheerier than our Fluffy Rainbow shade with hot pink fabric lining! Or try a little more tropical with our Palmyra Spice fabric on the inside for subtle drama or the outer for a brilliant pop of those jewel tones!

Buy Light Shades Online - You Can Consult Our Experts

When looking to buy lamp shades online it can sometimes be difficult to find the correct size. However, any shades you see on our site can be made up for you as bespoke custom lamp shades in many different sizes.

We can help you with swatches, advice and you can select from our curated collections or we can help you to design your own bespoke lampshade. Give us a call to get started.

When looking for lounge lamp shades keep in mind what the function will be. What is the purpose of the lampshade and base you are looking to purchase? Are you looking for nice light shades to bring together all the colours of the room and be an interesting design statement lampshade? Perhaps you are you looking for shades and lamps to read by? To provide task light.

When selecting a bedroom lampshade for a bedside table lamp, avoid this common mistake: Most people select small bedside table lamps and shades. But if you want to read by them it is much better to go for a tall lamp and lampshade as this will allow you to sit up in bed and still benefit from the light flowing from under the lampshade.

A good example would be our Gingko Tall Table Lamp. Another good choice for bedside reading lampshades is to hang a lampshade from a pendant fitting in place of table lamps, whether this is a soft shade or a glass shade. Similarly position a floor lamp and lamp shade higher than the chair or sofa so that the light will flood down on you when reading.

The world is your oyster when you buy lamp shades from us. There are so many wonderful fabrics to select from and we also make handmade lampshades in a variety of designer fabrics.

Designer light shades showcase fabrics from top fabric houses for example our Terrazzo pastel light shade with its delicate embroidery emulating terrazzo marble running through this James Hare fabric and a wonderful range of stunning lampshades featuring stunning fabrics from the Scottish designers Mairi Helena, Julia Clare and Timorous Beasties.